Chapter 495 Welcome Banquet
No wonder she felt a little weird along the way.
Mengrao Kuntu knew clearly that she was Ye Jingzhen's future princess, but he still called her Miss Yun.
Moreover, she was clearly accompanied by Miao Yi just now, so all she needed to do was give instructions. There was no need for Mengrao Kuntu to send her to Qingtanju in person.
Seeing that Yun Ran didn't say anything, Miao Yi stretched out her hand and waved it in front of her: "Sister Ran, are you okay?"
"It's okay," Yun Ran came back to his senses, "I was negligent just now."
It seems that this Mengrao Kuntu is not only a smiling tiger who is good at disguise and has a deep mind, but also a bit... perverted.
If she remembered correctly, this should be the first time she met Mengrao Kuntu.
He fell in love with her the first time they met? And he secretly put this stuff in her tea?
No matter how you look at it, this practice is unacceptable and seems like a trap to lure people into taking the bait.
"Don't worry, I will be careful next time."
Miao Yi finally felt relieved, and the two of them took this opportunity to discuss the welcoming banquet and tomorrow's sacrificial ceremony.
Not long after, there was another knock on the door. It was the two maids coming to invite them to the Yongdi Palace for a banquet.
After they had packed up, they went downstairs together and followed the maid to the Eternal Palace.
The Yongdi Palace of King Nanlin was built in a very grand and majestic style, with only two floors.
The upper level is the palace of Yongdi Palace, and the lower level is the pillars that support the entire palace.
There are nine pillars in a horizontal row and nine in a vertical row, totaling eighty-one in total, supporting the square shape of the main hall, which is several times larger than the average stilt house.
Moreover, the painted patterns on the wooden pillars are particularly exquisite and eye-catching, making it even more magnificent and glorious.
Led by the maid, the two went up the stairs. King Nanlin and Mengrao Kuntu had already taken their seats in the hall.
Yun Ran walked into the hall and saluted King Nanlin together with Miao Yi.
The old man smiled broadly and pointed to the seat to his right. "Princess Jing'an has come from afar. Please take a seat. This welcoming banquet was somewhat hastily organized by me. Please forgive me if the hospitality is not good enough."
"Thank you for your concern, King Nanlin." Yun Ran responded briefly and took a seat.
Miao Yi also sat down in her seat opposite her.
King Nanlin at the top raised his glass and spoke politely, but she didn't listen much and carefully observed the people attending the welcoming banquet.
The young people sitting opposite her, that is, on the left side of King Nanlin, were all dressed very gorgeously. Yun Ran noticed that they all wore intricate headdresses on their heads. Regardless of gender, the shape of the headdresses was somewhat like a snake.
The first person on the left is Mengrao Kuntu in a purple robe, followed by a young man with a pale face who looks a little sick. According to the order of rank, Yun Ran thinks that this person should be the second prince of Nanlin Kingdom.
Further back, there was a boy who was no more than four or five years old, being held by a young woman wearing a peach pink dress and brightly made-up. It seemed that the boy should be the third prince.
The queen of King Nanlin was sitting beside King Nanlin, so this woman should be King Nanlin's concubine or something.
After the boy were two girls about her age, who were huddled together, laughing and whispering something. They must be the fourth and fifth princesses.
The last one is Miao Yi.
She was wearing a dazzling rouge-colored dress, which was eye-catching and dazzling. Seeing Yun Ran looking at her, Miao Yi curled the corners of her lips at her and smiled.
Yun Ran also smiled back at her.
And just where she wasn't paying attention, Mengrao Kuntu was holding a wine glass in his hand, and the glass contained light pink Camellia sinensis.
He narrowed his eyes, took a sip of tea, and kept his gaze fixed on Yun Ran, never leaving her for a moment.
Soon, the welcoming banquet began.
As the music started, the dancers, with their navels exposed and their faces covered with veils, began to perform a passionate exotic dance.
Maids carrying dishes also came in one after another, placing plates of exquisite and delicious Nanlin dishes on the low table in front of everyone at the table.
Blood soup, chili bone, turtle and phoenix soup, vegetable cake...
Yun Ran recalled the special dishes of Nanlin recorded in the "Geographical Records" and matched the dishes on the table in front of him one by one.
The aroma of the food kept drilling into her nostrils, making her take a deep breath of satisfaction. After secretly testing it with the silver handle of the dragon beard noodles, she began to feast on it with confidence.
The banquet was in full swing. In the second half, King Nanlin began to toast her frequently and talked to her about the serious business of peace talks.
"I, Nanlin, have always been on good terms with Dakang. I'm afraid there were many misunderstandings regarding General Yun's previous incident." King Nanlin said, raising his glass to Yun Ran from afar.
He was talking about the time when Yun Chenglu wiped out the Nanlin soldiers led by the Great Witch in one fell swoop and killed the Great Witch in the process.
Yun Ran looked at the smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes and raised his glass from a distance, "Of course. So, King Nanlin specially sent the eldest prince to invite me here. How do you plan to negotiate peace?"
She spoke directly, and Prince Nanlin paused in his drinking motions before laughing: "The princess is a person of temperament, straightforward!"
"Since that's the case, I won't beat around the bush. Tomorrow is the sacrificial ceremony. If the princess is willing to offer sacrifice to the snake god, I am willing to negotiate peace with Da Kang and, as before, pay tribute to Da Kang every year."
He raised his head and drank the wine in the cup in one gulp, then added, "Princess Jing'an came here with His Royal Highness Prince Jing'an this time, not just to attack Nanlin, right?"
"If I'm not mistaken, the Emperor of Dakang has given you a mission. We in Nanlin have a kind of witchcraft that can bring the dead back to life."
Yun Ran's face was calm, but he understood in his heart.
Ye Jinghua had indeed colluded with King Nanlin and had already told King Nanlin about his search for witchcraft to bring the old Emperor Dakang back to life.
However, it doesn’t matter now that King Nanlin knows about it.
"Yes," she said, "So King Nanlin is willing to tell me this witchcraft?"
King Nanlin nodded and said, "Not only will it bring the dead back to life, but if you are willing to offer a sacrifice, starting next year, I, Nanlin, will pay tribute to Da Kang every year, just as I did before."
"If I remember correctly, if the old emperor abdicates, the current crown prince will succeed him."
Yes, if Ye Cangling abdicates or dies, the successor will be Xiaojing's brother, the current crown prince Ye Jingtian.
If King Nanlin is willing to pay tribute every year, it will naturally help Ye Jingtian consolidate his position, the two countries will have friendly diplomatic relations, and Dakang will have one less potential hostile small country.
Although it is a small country, it is adjacent to Dakang and has a relatively favorable geographical location. If the southern side is restless, it will still cause headaches.
"I'm here to negotiate peace," Yun Ran smiled, raised his glass to King Nanlin from a distance, and then drank it all in one gulp. "Of course I'm willing to agree to King Nanlin's conditions."
"Okay!" King Nanlin's face flushed slightly, as if he was very satisfied with her answer.
At this moment, Mengraokuntu, who was sitting in the first seat on the left, suddenly stood up.
"Miss Yun agreed readily," he said with a smile on his face. "You know, in Nanlin, those who voluntarily sacrifice to the Snake God will be the next state teacher of Nanlin Kingdom. So, Miss Yun is willing to stay in Nanlin?"
Yun Ran raised an eyebrow and glanced at him: "I remember that the Snake Shaman also sacrificed to the Snake God. Now that the Great Shaman is gone, he should take over, right?"
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